Untitled
by PonyDroverHPT
Summary: This is basically the last two books... with an awesome twist! A character will NOT be dead cough-Sirius-cough ! I solemnly swear that I am up to no good and this story will not drag on!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! This is PonyDroverHPT. I welcome you to my first Harry Potter fanfic for ! A couple of things before I start…**

**1. I am completely averse to the deaths of Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and Fred. If you don't like that, I'm sorry. I think their deaths were unnecessary so I will not be dwelling on them in this story.**

**2. Dumbledore is another story. His death was crucial to the plotline, so he will remain dead when the time comes.**

**3. I don't write slash, not now and not ever. Unless it was meant to be, I'm not putting it in. That doesn't mean I'm anti-gay! I love gay people. More power to them! **

**4. I DONT OWN ANYTHING!!!!!! IT ALL BELONGS TO JK ROWLING!!!!**

**This is all… I look forward to seeing you at the end of the chapter!**

**Chapter 1: A Grim Night Gone Good**

Harry was having a rough day. It all started when loud thunder and bright lightning woke him up at half-past three in the morning. Unable to go back to sleep after paying the _Daily Prophet_ owl, Harry went downstairs around six to start breakfast. This task was harder than Harry thought, because the lightning wiped out some power lines in Little Whinging, so the only light in the house came from the stove that Harry was cooking on. This proved to be very dangerous, because without the light to judge the distance from the stove, Harry burned himself multiple times on the stove. The other terror that presented itself from the absence of electricity was the big one: Harry's cousin Dudley. Without the power to run his television, Dudley had reverted to one of his old favorite games, Harry-Hunt.

This led Harry to stay as far away from the house as possible. He was more scared of Dudley and his fist than a little wind and weather. For the rest of the afternoon, Harry stayed on the Merry-Go-'Round in the park on the corner of Privet Drive and Wisteria Walk.

When the sun began to set, Harry was shocked to see a tall figure approach him. Even at a distance, Harry could see the figure draw a long, thin object from the inside of his thin coat.

It was a wand.

The man was a wizard.

Instinctually Harry drew his wand and stood up to face the stranger. As long as he didn't die, Harry could handle using magic again as long as it saved his life. Who he saw in the flicker of the streetlamp made Harry feel temporarily relieved. It was his old professor and friend of his father's, Remus Lupin.

Lupin did not portray the same show of relief. He kept his wand pointed at Harry's chest, a look of suspicion on his face.

"What is the spell I taught you in your third year and what does it distinctly look like?" Lupin asked Harry. Obviously he had also received a leaflet from the Ministry of Magic this summer, because he was asking a security question.

"Patronus Charm. It takes the form of a stag." Harry replied with ease. Since the question he received was so easy, he was compelled to ask one of his own, so in turn he asked, "Who wrote the Marauder's Map, names and nicknames?"

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. That would be myself, Remus Lupin, then Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter," Lupin replied, barely skipping a beat. Both men physically relaxed, and Lupin joined Harry on the Merry-Go-'Round.

"So what are you doing here, Lupin?" Harry asked, genuinely curious as to why his previous teacher was in his neighborhood.

"Your brief letters were worrying me; they almost seemed forced. And if you want to, you are more than welcome to call me Remus."

"Alright, but I didn't really have much to say. In fact, I haven't said anything all summer," That was true. Ever since the end of the last school year, his fifth to be exact, Harry barely spoke a word. He ignored his aunt and uncle, and he only answered the direct questions from his friends. If asked how he felt, Harry just said, "I'm fine" and would move onto the next subject.

"Harry, are you alright?" Lupin asked slowly. Harry was about to utter his usual retort, but he stopped himself. _You can talk to Remus_ Harry thought _he's probably going through the same things you are._

"How do you think I feel Remus?" Harry replied him in little more than a whisper. "I've just lost the last chance I'll ever have to having a decent family. I miss him so much it isn't fair." His knee-jerk emotions caused a tear to roll down the end of his nose. "I'm sure you understand," Harry finished, looking down at his worn-out trainers.

Lupin put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Actually," he started, and Harry's head shot up to see if the smile on Lupin's face was as evident as the one in his voice. It was. "There has been a recent turn of events in my life, proving to me that there can be small miracles."

"Really?" Harry asked sarcastically. "Whatever could that be?"

Lupin gave a whistle, and out of the shrubs on the left of the playground came a dark dog. It ran at Harry full-force, and then began licking his face, hands, and hair. After what seemed like minutes, the dog relented, leaving Harry dripping in slobber.

"This is your miracle?" was Harry's incredulous question. "A dog?"

Before his very eyes, the dog backed away, and the area where the dog was standing was instantly filled with a man. His black hair was shorter than Harry remembered, and he still looked gaunt. His grey eyes shone with a new joy, and when he spoke, his voice had the same youthful enthusiasm it had a month ago.

"Harry, I'm hurt. Is that really all you think of me?" said the man known to the world as Sirius Black. Harry's heart leapt into his throat just as the bottom fell out of his stomach. _Could it be? But he's dead! I watched him die! Yep, definitely not possible._ Harry, for the second time that night, drew his wand.

"If you're really Sirius, then tell me only something only the real Sirius Black would know," Harry demanded.

"Okay," and Harry was surprised to see him grinning. "You probably don't remember this, but when you were a baby and Lily and James were busy, I would always get the job of changing you, so I am the only person alive that knows about the birthmark on your butt shaped like a thundercloud."

Harry was totally mortified. That was an extremely private piece of information, something he thought _no one_ knew about. As he felt his blood rush to his face, he heard the uncontrollable guffaws coming from Lupin. But none of that was important. Sirius was actually alive, and that was all that mattered.

"Sirius, oh my God it is you!" Harry engulfed his godfather in a hug. He could hear Sirius chuckle as Harry fought to control the sobs that racked his body.

"Hey, you're not going hysterical, are you?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"I'm pretty damn close, seeing as my godfather whom I thought was dead is now, well, not dead," Harry mumbled darkly into Sirius' shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Harry. It was the only way I was going to escape from the Ministry. But now everyone knows that I'm innocent, and soon I'll let myself be seen so I can be free _and _alive," he explained kindly.

"But how did you survive? I mean, I saw the Avada Kedavra hit you, and-and you fell…" Harry rambled, but Sirius cut him off.

"Harry, Harry, Harry calm down! Let me explain. What really happened was this: Remus was paying a lot more attention than I thought was possible, so he Stunned me, and Disillusioned me, all in the last minute. It was quite outstanding, really." Sirius finished, flashing a grin at Lupin.

"But why didn't either of you tell me? I'm amazing at keeping secrets, you could trust me," Harry protested. He was beginning to feel really mad at them both for keeping them in the dark.

It was Lupin who answered this time. "Harry, in order for Fudge to find Sirius innocent, he needed to believe Sirius was dead. If you believed it, and Dumbledore believed it, then there was no denying it. Now the evidence has absolved his name, and he'll be a free man again," he said.

Oh. Well, that made sense, sort of. Harry was still a little put-out that he wasn't told, but it was okay. Sirius was alive, and Harry's world was back in rotation.

He didn't notice until too late that Sirius was scrutinizing his appearance. "Harry you're looking thin," Sirius noted, frowning at the fact that Dudley's hand-me-down clothes were going on ten sizes too big, "Have you been eating?"

"I went on a diet," Harry lied poorly, for even he realized that when he was depressed, he stopped eating. He caught "the look" from both Sirius and Lupin, so he muttered under his breath, "It would have worked if they were stupid." (**See ending A/N) **At that comment, Sirius chuckled softly and Lupin rolled his eyes.

"Well," Lupin said, "I think it's time we leave. I for one don't want to stay in this boring neighborhood."

"Oh," Harry said dejectedly. He didn't want to stay in Privet Drive anymore, and now his only way of escaping was leaving him behind, "thanks for stopping by."

Sirius laughed. "Are you mental? We're taking you with us. Dumbledore gave us special permission to come and get you."

"Really?" Harry said. Of course he had been waiting all summer for something like this to happen, so he hadn't unpacked yet. He hadn't really given up hope that someone would come and rescue him.

"Yes," Sirius replied, "Now go and get your stuff while we explain to your aunt and uncle."

Harry broke into a dead run down the street. _Oh my God. Sirius is alive and I'm leaving this God-forsaken place!_ The thought kept running through Harry's head with his every footfall. He slowed to a walk as he reached the driveway, and, as usual, was completely ignored as he trudged up the stairs. It took Harry five minutes to clean out Hedwig's cage and gather whatever he had lying around in his room, including his Invisibility Cloak and his Firebolt. He had everything ready when he heard a knock on the door.

"Who in the bloody hell could be calling at this time?" Uncle Vernon's voice boomed from the hallway downstairs. According to Harry's watch, it was 8:00 p.m., so the power outages had taken a heavy affect on his uncle. The loud grumbling was then followed by heavy footsteps and the sound of the front door opening with a slow creak.

"Hello, Mr. Dursley, my name is Remus Lupin," Lupin's cool, authoritative voice floated, "I have orders to collect your nephew for the rest of the summer."

Harry was internally thanking his lucky stars that it was Lupin who came to the door. He knew that if it was Sirius, then emotions would fly and either Uncle Vernon would have been cursed into oblivion or Sirius would have been strangled.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" Harry dragged his trunk in one hand, Hedwig's cage in the other, and his rucksack on his back down the stairs.

"You ready to go?" Lupin asked with a small smile.

"Yep!" Harry answered breathlessly. After a very hasty farewell (which consisted of Harry waving over his shoulder to his uncle, not even waiting for a reply) Harry and Lupin walked to the edge of the street where a black dog was waiting for them. Lupin threw out his wand arm and, with a bang, the Knight Bus appeared. Stan Shunpike, the very-pimply young conductor, began his speech.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for…"

Lupin cut him off quickly. "How much for two and a pet?"

"Twenty-five Sickles."

Lupin started searching his robes, but Harry was quicker on the uptake. He gave the money to Stan, pocketed the change, and found a seat next to Sirius.

"Thanks," Lupin muttered, also taking a seat.

"No problem, so where are we going?"

"Ottery St. Catchpole, we go on foot the rest of the way."

"What…" Harry was about to ask what was so special in Ottery St. Catchpole, but then he remembered something Ron had said once…_"Fred and George met a muggle girl in Ottery St. Catchpole. That's the village down the hill…"_ "Wait. Are we going to the Burrow?"

"Yep," Lupin said absently, reading the _Daily Prophet_. Sirius yelped softly in happiness and Harry shut his eyes and leaned against the cold window.

**So, about the quote. A very good friend of mine and I were talking in Chemistry, and at the most opportune moment she said this and it was the funniest thing ever. I vowed to put into my fanfiction story. **

**When you review, could you please give me suggestions about a good title? Quite frankly, I'm stuck!**

**Reviews are great, and so is constructive criticism. Flames aren't so I really don't want any. The more of you review, the faster I'll have the next chapter up! Happy Thanksgiving!**

**K~A~W **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! I want to thank the review from **Fawn Silverstream **for sparking my imagination for my new title…Never Far Away. Thank you also the RebeccaRoy for reviewing and giving me another title. I'll probably use that for a one-shot in the future.**

**Once again, I DO NOT HAVE ANY RIGHTS TO ANYTHING!!!!! J.K. Rowling does.**

**Anywho, on with the story!**

**Chapter 2: Light in the Darkness**

The sun was beginning to shine over the many hills of Ottery St. Catchpole. Harry had a crick in his neck from dozing off in an upright chair. Lupin was already up, getting Harry's trunk down from the holding compartment. Sirius (still in dog form) was pacing the aisle between the seats, anxious to get off the bus.

"Thank you, come again," Stan called as the odd threesome got off the Knight Bus. Harry and Lupin had decided that Sirius would remain in dog shape, at first.

"So are you disappearing once we show up at the Weasley's?" Harry asked. He really wanted to see his friends, but he didn't want Lupin and Sirius to leave yet.

"We can't," Lupin said, "The Ministry of Magic hasn't released Sirius' assets yet, so 12 Grimuald Place is, at the moment, uninhabitable."

They were climbing the last hill between them and the Burrow and, already it was visible. The slightly-off-center house, with its small picket fence and pestiferous little gnomes was about a Quidditch field away. Harry livened his pace, and before he knew it, he was wiping his feet on the doormat and knocking on the door.

"Wait," Harry asked abruptly, "do they know about Sirius?"

"No they don't," Sirius replied, turning back into human form, "I think it's time they know, though, since we're staying here for two weeks."

"Dumbledore cleared it with Arthur; he's the only one that knows." Lupin added.

"I'm coming**!" **A familiar female voice called from the inside. The strange trio physically relaxed. The voice came from Hermione. Once she believedthat Sirius was back, and then everyone would.

Hermione opened the door. Her bushy brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a muggle sundress and sandals. To Harry, it seemed like she was taking fashion tips from Luna Lovegood.

"Harry!" She exclaimed, giving him a hug yet managing not to spill her pumpkin juice on him. "Come in. Everyone's been anxious since Dumbledore told us yesterday that you were coming today. Hello, Lupin," but that's as far as she got. When she saw who the third party in the traveling group was, her glass slipped from her hand and shattered on the ground.

"S-s-s-s-Sirius? B-b-b-But… you're _dead!"_ Hermione stuttered. After she got over the primary shock, she drew her wand.

"Hermione," Sirius said her name slowly and put his hands out in front of him. Even he knew that you should _never_ be on the receiving end of Hermione's wand, "I am not dead. It was a serious misunderstanding. I promise you. I can even prove it. You and Harry saved my life two years ago when you time-traveled and broke me out of my cell. I flew off on a grey Hippogriff named Buckbeak whom you and Harry saved in the same time-traveling trip."

There was a long pause. "Oh my god it is you," Hermione finally whispered. Her wand arm lay limply by her side and a tear trickled down her cheek.

"Uh-oh. Hermione, don't cry." Sirius said, a little uncomfortably. He had never been _that_ close with the girl, but he didn't expect her to start crying. Quite frankly he was at a loss of what to do. Hermione walked over and gave him a hug. Sirius was becoming accustomed to tearful and emotional teenagers, so he just stood there and let her have a good cry, occasionally patting her shoulder. After about thirty seconds, Hermione straightened up, wiped her face, and chuckled weakly.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I'm just so happy that something…_good_…has happened. I mean, people are dying everywhere and yet here you are and…oh bloody hell I don't know what I'm talking about. Ron!" she called the last name up the stairs. There was a thunder of footsteps, and then the tall, red-headed form of Ron Weasley appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Oi, what's all the yelling about? Harry, mate, good to see you! And…"Ron scanned the room and quickly found the source of the commotion.

"Sirius, you're alive? That's great!" Ron gave him a high-five and a pat on the back.

"Yep, all thanks to Moony here. If it wasn't for him, I would have really died." Sirius said, patting Lupin on the back.

"Well, you know," he said, "A friend's gotta do what a friend's gotta do."

Of course Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were beside themselves with glee. Fred, George, Charlie and Bill were extremely happy. To everyone's surprise, Fleur Delaceur, Bill's bride-to-be and former Triwizard competitor, was even happy to see him.

"I am so happy to meet you. Beel 'as told me so much," Fleur had said. She, unlike the others, didn't totally grasp the fact that Sirius had once been presumed dead.

As Harry's birthday came around, the ambience was becoming darker. Deaths were occurring all over the country. Dementors were at every turn. The birthday tea was very quiet. After everyone had gone to bed, Harry sat on the back porch, looking up at the stars. Two days prior, Dumbledore had visited to tell Harry that he would be taking private lessons with him this year, and that it would have a lot to do with the prophecy. Since then, Harry didn't get a minute of sleep. Dumbledore seemed determined that Harry would come out of the fight victorious.

Harry, however, wasn't so sure. His father had been the best Auror in his day, and in the end it didn't matter. Harry was only sixteen. It would be nearly impossible. Voldemort had been practicing going on sixty years and Harry was less than one-third his age. _There's no way that the prophecy could come true. I have no extraordinary power._ Harry thought.

"Harry?" he turned quickly. Lupin's head was sticking out of the doorway behind him.

"Hey, Lupin, you're still up?" Harry asked. Lupin nodded and looked up at the sky. In a couple of days the moon would be full so, naturally he wasn't feeling too well.

"Anything on your mind?" Lupin asked him.

"No," Harry replied nonchalantly, "Is it that obvious?" he amended.

Lupin smiled and sat on the step next to Harry. "Sort of. When you were little, I was very in-tune with your emotions. I would know when you were sad and I knew how to fix it. You're expressions haven't changed much." He added with a grin.

Harry also smiled. Stories about his past made him feel wanted, a feeling he had previously not had the luxury of. He couldn't believe it was possible that once, his life was truly happy. Now, he was far from it.

"It's this prophecy," Harry said with a sigh.

"You know," Lupin responded curiously, "no one else knows the true contents of this prophecy. Care to…shed some light on the subject?"

Harry contemplated it. On the one hand, Harry didn't think Lupin was in Dumbledore's _need to know_ circle. On the other, he was basically the only other family Harry had apart from his godfather and it would be really helpful to have the advice of someone older and wiser than his friends.

"Well," Harry began, "to summarize it, it said that Voldemort would mark the person that would defeat him, and one would die by the hand of the other."

A shocked silence was Lupin's response. Harry felt kinda guilty about telling Lupin and getting him worried, especially just before the full moon.

"Well of course you'll survive," Lupin said gruffly, trying to back his words with empty confidence. As Lupin got up to leave, Harry grabbed his arm and looked into his peculiar amber-rimmed blue eyes.

"Don't tell Sirius, please Remus?" Harry begged.

"Harry, I…" Lupin tried to protest, but Harry cut him off.

"Please? Sirius worries worse than anyone I've ever met, including Mrs. Weasley."

It was the truth. Even though Sirius acted cool and funny, he had an annoying tendency to hover. Granted Harry was the one who could unintentionally find trouble at any turn, but he was safe at the Burrow and he didn't want his godfather to worry over him.

Lupin, thankfully, seemed to understand. "Alright, your secret is safe with me, but please remember that he worries only because he cares about you."

"Yeah, alright," Harry said. "Goodnight Lupin."

"'Night, Harry." Lupin replied. He walked back into the house, leaving Harry to deal with his thoughts alone.

"Now, are you _sure_ you have everything?" Sirius looked straight into his godson's eyes.

"Yes Sirius," was Harry's monotonous reply.

"Do you have your two-way mirror?" Sirius pressed him.

"Yes I do, and it will remain _in_ my schoolbag _with_ my Invisibility Cloak _and _the Marauders' Map," Harry conveyed to him.

"Good," Sirius smiled and rubbed Harry's already-messy hair, "Now you'd better get in the car, or you'll be late.

"Ok," Harry picked up his trunk and headed out the door. Sirius watched him go, feeling slightly sad. Sirius ripped himself away from the door, only to hear a voice interrupt his whirling mind.

"Sirius, wait," Harry said from the doorway. Just as Sirius turned back, Harry hit him with a hug. For a couple of minutes they stood there, saying nothing. It wasn't long until the Ministry car honked its horn.

"You'd better go Harry," Sirius said, his voice saturated with emotion, "take care and write often."

"I will. Bye Sirius!" Harry walked out the door again. Sirius watched from the window of the Burrow as the car disappeared.

"He'll be okay," Lupin said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess," Sirius sighed.

**This one was a tad on the short side. Sorry! I'm going to go ahead and warn you that the timeline will be a little off-whack. First of all, the brother of a girl on my softball team has my last two Harry Potter books at the moment, so if I write something wrong, DON'T HATE ME!!!!!! **

**Also, I'm not going to dictate every day, so for the next few chapters, they will be mostly in letter form. There will be occurrences where it won't be in letter form, and there will be **_**some **_**action. **

**Remember, I love reviews and please NO FLAMES!!!!!!!**

**K~A~W **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! I'm sorry for the delay. Once again my mom has cut me back from computer use, so I'm forced to do this on a Friday night when they're gone… DON'T TELL ON ME!!!!!! Here's where the letters start, and they're supposed to cover about two months. Please enjoy and remember… I don't own anything. At all. Don't think that I do. **

**See you at the end of the chapter!**

**Chapter 3: Corresponding and Quidditch**

_Dear Sirius, _

_Congratulations on becoming a free, living man! Have you walked out and about yet? If you want an excuse to, there's a Hogsmeade trip next weekend and our first Quidditch match two weeks later. You could watch me make a fool of myself as team captain! _

_My classes are going alright. Slughorn's a really good teacher. Transfiguration is crazy, oh, and Snape is teaching Defense this year. There goes my chance of passing! As for the _other _lessons, well, let's just say they involve a Pensieve and a lot of guesswork._

_Tell Remus hello for me. Ron and Hermione say hi!_

_Your godson, _

_Harry_

_Harry, _

_Thanks for the congratulations. The freedom's great, but the trial wasn't. I'll tell you about it the next time I see you!_

_Unfortunately, I can't make it to Hogsmeade. I've applied for a job, and I'm meeting the boss that weekend. I will, however, make it to the Quidditch game. I'll even bring Lupin with me (if he agrees to go)! And I'm sure you won't make a fool of yourself. You're too good!_

_Moony says hi, and tell Ron and Hermione hello for us!_

_Be safe!_

_Sirius_

_P.S. - I'm glad classes are going alright. Don't let Snape be too much of a git! If he is, then I'll give him a piece of my mind._

The air had that fresh smell to it. There was a light breeze, and there was a little cloud cover. In other words, it was a perfect day for Quidditch. It was the first of the year: Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff.

In the locker rooms, Gryffindor team captain Harry Potter was attempting to boost his team's morale.

"Alright, everyone," he began, suddenly wishing that one of his previous team captains, Oliver Wood, was giving this speech, "we've been doing brilliantly in our practices and our moves are flawless. We'll be the team to beat this year!"

His team cheered behind him as they filed out. The only person who looked anywhere close to how Harry was feeling was Ron, who was bouncing up and down and fidgeting with his robes.

"You'll do fine today, Ron!" Harry encouraged his best friend.

"I know, thanks to you, but that doesn't keep me from feeling nervous."

Ron still hadn't realized that the Felix Felicis, the lucky potion, he had supposedly taken, was still full in its bottle that was currently residing in Harry's pocket.

Harry patted his friend on the back and stepped onto the field. The red and gold supporters were cheering madly. He stepped to the middle of the field to shake hands with the Hufflepuff team captain.

"A good, clean game, right?" Madam Hooch said through the teeth that were clenched around her whistle. Both captains nodded, shook hands, and mounted their brooms. The Bludgers were released, then the Snitch. Harry's senses went into hyper alert. The whistle blew, and he was off.

Flying was the one thing that Harry could always gain peace from. The air gave him power, it made him feel strong. As he swooped and dove, all of his fears washed away into nothingness.

Forty feet below, Sirius and Remus were entering the stands, looking for a place to sit. They seemed to be in a sea of red, and they couldn't find anyone they knew.

"Sirius, Lupin, over here!" Both men turned to see a bushy-haired Hermione waving to them, clutching a large book in her other hand.

A few heads turned towards them as they pushed through the crowd. Hermione was sitting with Neville and Luna, who were all wearing Gryffindor colors. They sat down and their heads snapped up, almost like they were magnetically drawn to the game.

"Stop the Quaffle, Ron!" Lupin yelled. Sirius refocused just in time to see Ron barely block the goal. The red and gold group cheered wildly. Just as the Quaffle went back into play, one red and one yellow player went into a dive. With a shock, the crowd realized that the Seekers may have spotted the Snitch. Sirius watched as his godson Harry raced Summersby, the Hufflepuff Seeker, full-force towards the ground. Twenty feet left, ten feet, eight feet left, _much too close Harry…_Sirius winced as he heard a loud _thud_. Opening his eyes slowly, he felt slightly relieved that it was the Hufflepuff Seeker on the ground. OF course, he was concerned for the boy's welfare, but he was also very impressed. _The Wronskei Feint…you little bugger, Harry._

Remus, out of fear, had grabbed Sirius' upper arm tightly when the dangerous had occurred.

"Um, Moony? Ouch, buddy," Sirius hinted. Remus immediately let go and began fidgeting in his seat.

"Stop twitching, Remus. You're making me nervous!" Sirius said, trying to calm down his friend.

"_Making you nervous?_ How are you _not_ nervous? If that didn't work, Harry could have broken his neck!" Remus exclaimed heatedly.

"Moony, that's Quidditch! Yes, I was screaming inside, but that is the nature of the sport." Sirius explained. "You just never realized it because you looked like Hermione at all of the matches, your nose four centimeters from your book."

Remus scowled at his friend, while Neville and Luna laughed at Hermione who hadn't taken her eyes off her text the whole time.

~-~-

Meanwhile, Harry's broom sped closer and closer. His hand was stretched out; he could almost feel the disturbance in the air caused by the tiny winged ball. Just a little closer…

His hand clenched around the gold metal, and he beamed. _Not too bad for my first match as team captain! _He thought. As he made his descent, two faces stood out from the crowd: Sirius and Remus were looking straight at him, Remus giving two-thumbs up while Sirius punched the air. Harry flew down to the rest of his team, who all had been engulfed in a group hug. He went into the locker rooms, took a shower, and put on clean clothes.

After he had finished cleaning up, Harry walked into the main part of the locker room to find Ron, fully clothed and rubbing water out of his ears with a towel.

"Good job Ron!" Harry congratulated his friend.

"Eh," he shrugged, "I got lucky."

Harry rolled his eyes and exited the room, Ron following behind him. Sirius and Lupin were leaning against the wall facing the door to the locker room.

"And a great Gryffindor victory to start the season!" Sirius cheered, rubbing the top of Harry's head.

"Excellent goalkeeping, Ron," Lupin said as the foursome walked away from the field.

"Thanks," Ron mumbled, his ears going slightly pink. "Did you see Harry's Wronskei Feint?"

"Sure did," Sirius replied smugly, "and it almost stopped Moony's heart!"

"It did not!" Lupin retorted.

"Did so. You kept going on about the unseen dangers of Quidditch."

"Remus, I never took you for the worrying type," Harry said with difficulty, for he and Ron were both laughing at the grown men's teasing and banter.

"Oh Remus always worried," Sirius explained, "But he has become more placid in his old age!"

At that point, Remus started chasing Sirius across the grounds. They were evenly matched, because Sirius was still pretty wiry and Remus had supernatural capabilities.

"They sure are friends, aren't they?" Ron asked just as Remus and Sirius had stopped their running.

"Yeah," Harry said wistfully, "I wish we were like that."

Ron turned to face Harry. "What do you mean? We're friends."

"Oh, absolutely!" Harry hurried, not wanting to offend Ron. "We're best friends. But what I meant was… they have it so easy. Pulling pranks, sneaking out, getting to be kids. You, Hermione, and I grew up too fast. There were always threats of Voldemort, people being attacked, and in one case," Harry said, grinning towards his godfather who had, along with Lupin, rejoined the teens, "a murderous escaped convict bent on personal revenge."

Sirius pretended to look offended. "Hey, that was one time and I wasn't even after you!"

Harry laughed and patted Sirius' shoulder, "Yeah, but you still scared the hell out of me."

Sirius shook off Harry's ribbing and he walked with Lupin towards the Apparition point beyond Hogsmeade.

**So…how did you like it? I know it was a little angsty and if my memory serves me correctly, the first Quidditch match is against Slytherin. But once again, I don't have the books on me. I'm going to try to out up the next chapter ASAP, but the more reviews I get, the faster I type!**

**Love you all,**

**K~A~W **


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